The St. Mary Sharks boys played hard to make their way into the bronze medal game, but were unable to put a medal around their neck losing 67-55 to the Gerard Redmond team from Hinton.
The Sharks finished fifth, as they hosted the 33rd annual W.J. Kallal Memorial Senior Boys Basketball Tournament Feb. 8-9 at the Rotary Spirit Centre, with eight teams making the trip from as far away as Fairview in northwestern Alberta.
“We got to the bronze medal game, but we couldn’t do it in the end, we ended up losing 67-55,” said coach Darcy Romanuik.
“We were flat at the start and they came out hitting everything, while we came out hitting everything but.
“If you take away the first quarter, it’s an even game, but gee whiz, the game is 40 minutes and unfortunately we only played about 32.”
The Sharks started off their tourney Feb. 8 on the right note, against the team from Fairview and even though they fell behind in the first half, managed to come out on top 53-48.
“I thought the kids played a good game. We got everyone involved and I was happy with the result,” said Romanuik.
Neerlandia’s Covenant Canadian Reformed School (CCRS) was next on the schedule after they also won their first game on their way to the finals. They defeated the Sharks 54-48, putting St. Mary into the bronze medal game against Gerard Redmond.
“Everything worked out at the start, but the second game CCRS was there for the taking, but we just couldn’t get it done,” said Romanuik. “We couldn’t handle their big guy for some reason. I thought we had a good game plan to shut him down, but it just never happened.”
Romanuik said the team needs to revisit their basic skills to help them to be successful going forward.
“We miss so many easy put-backs as a team and we didn’t shoot the ball very well. Defence didn’t play that bad, we just couldn’t score,” he said.
The boys will have two practices this week in preparation for a tournament in Camrose Feb. 15-16, before heading to zones in Slave Lake in March.
The tournament’s namesake, W.J. Kallal was a Catholic school trustee in the region for 25 years.
“When I got here, the tournament was in its third year and now it’s in its 33rd year. It’s kind of a big deal,” said Romanuik.
The St. Mary girls were off last weekend, but will host the six-team Cathy Mitchell Memorial Tournament, at the school, Feb. 22-23.
